More Info on .png

I thought I'd share this link from the Tumble Fish Studio blog. I mentioned .png in an earlier post and came across this. This studio makes outstanding collage sheets.  Read and learn.
 
http://tumblefishstudio.blogspot.com/2010/10/might-png-image.html

Another site you might like is this one.

http://www.jessicadrossintextures.blogspot.com/

There is a charge for these textures. I usually try and provide free resources for people learning PSE. This site offers some great info on how to work with textures.It has inspired me to do more with my textures. Hopefully it will help you as well.

You may of noticed twitter buttons on some of my posts. I just joined Twitter and don't actually have a clue what to do on it. But like everything else I've done I thought I'd just jump in and figure it out.

No art to go with this post as I've been sick and very uninspired for the last week. Hope you enjoy the links.

Tweet

Rough up Your Artwork

http://www.timholtz.com/demos.html

There are some quick and dirty (just an expression) demos . I liked the grunge distressed demos. Of course. They are for Tim Holtz materials. But you can adapt the techniques using whatever is at hand. I used some ink I already had and scraped the excess ink off with paper towel. Then I used the paper towel to pick up some black ink from my stamp pad and went around the edge of my ATC with it for the grunge effect. Clear as mud? That's why God invented pictures. Here's the ATC.

© NeonSun Studios. J.R. Currie All rights reserved 2010

A word about coloured inks. If you haven't used them before, give it a try. I've always used Winsor &  Newton Inks. But check out some others. They always give great results and the colours are very vibrant. Start out with red, yellow and blue because you can mix them. Use a bottle cap to mix them in. A very little goes a long way. Once they are dry, you can stamp on them or use Black Indian Ink on top.

Tweet

Making a filmstrip with the Eraser

It's easy peasey. Make a 6"x2" page with a transparent background.
Duplicate.
Fill with black ink using ink bucket.
Select eraser tool.
Select a hard edge square brush.
Adjust the size of the eraser (small for the notches and very large for the frames).
Then use the eraser like a stamp and cut out notches and frames.
I use the grid on the background to line things up.
Then you can add a drop shadow.
You should see the black frame and the transparent background.
Save as a .png. That way you can slide photos behind it.
I did a sample for you with the images inserted behind.

© NeonSun Studios. All rights reserved J.R Currie 2010

Tweet

Moving Backwards in Time

It seems I'm moving backwards in time with my art. Next I'll be doing art from the big bang. Hey, sounds good.

©NeonSun Studios. All rights reserved.

Music and Checkerboard Patterns

Oval Frame

Egyptian Bird

YouTube Tutorials

I always love a good tutorial. I found some great ones here.
http://www.youtube.com/user/PhotoGavin Someone remarked that he's the Bobby Ross of photoshop.

Bobby Ross:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?filter=fl_83975075021#!/group.php?gid=2412227712

Gavin's tutorials are easy to follow even though there are a lot of steps. I would listen and then pause it so I could do the project in Elements. Worked well for me. So you might want to check out his tutorials.  I've put his link in Blogs I Follow in the right hand portion of my blog.
Here's a picture sphere that I made following his directions.

Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paperscraps/4268181453/in/set-72157623035244083/

© NeonSun Studios. All rights reserved 2010

Wordle - Lots of Fun

I just came across a little program that makes word Art. I thought I'd share it with you.
http://www.wordle.net/

©NeonSun Studios. All rights reserved 2010.

This is my wordle. To save your wordle yours, you have to save a screenshot. Mac users can hit the print button and save as a PDF. Hope you like it. Don't be afraid to comment.

Crazy about Brushes

I won't bore you with my latest brushes. Instead I'll give you some links to some great brushes that can be downloaded from Deviant Art.

Dirigibles - Steampunk heaven
http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=dirigible+brush#/d11oqni

Alice in Wonderland Brushes
http://stoneangel3.deviantart.com/favourites/#/d2wjcu6

Grunge Patterns - Not brushes, but these are patterns you paint on the paper. So much fun
http://webtreatsetc.deviantart.com/art/Grungy-Burgundy-Patterns-Part2-149258623

And if you've ever gotten frustrated adding or making brushes, here's a tutorial you can download:
http://nokari.deviantart.com/art/Guide-to-PS-Brushes-66462868

©NeonSun Studios. All rights reserved 2010.

Goodnight all. Have fun!

Today's Pic

Trying out my new watermark.

Texture: www.flickr.com/photos/landofnodstudios/4876038141/in/set-...
Background: www.flickr.com/photos/playingwithpsp/collections/72157600...
Mask: texurestockbyhjs.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d1l7xn3
Mannequin: letinhastock.deviantart.com/art/Vintage-Mannequin-158665202
Crow: www.flickr.com/photos/landofnodstudios/4263526467/in/set-...
Penguin: justiej.deviantart.com/

A shameless plug for my art:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/56699463/original-digital-art-print-vintage

Tweet

True Confessions

I have a confession to make. I have never printed an Art print in my life. Yes, it's true. As you may of noticed I set up an Etsy Shop. I was hoping to sell a few prints so I could buy a full copy of photoshop. Don't click! This isn't a plea for money; just a confession. I put up my digital art in my Etsy shop and then have hoped and prayed that no one would buy a print. I made an ugly header for my shop. I feel a twinge of terror each time my work gets added to a treasury  on Etsy. I feel like a Monty Python script. I'm an adventurous person. I love learning new things. But I have been stuck.

Fortunately I don't believe I'll be punished for the rest of my life for not knowing. But it was time to take the next step. Today I called a printer on the premise of resizing a piece for printing. We talked about file formats, about colour profiles, dpi and enlarging prints, about paper seelctios and pre cut sizes. We also talked about sizing. What a relief!!! So I'm going to take my frog shaped drive down there this week. I'll let you know how it goes.

This brings me to another point. I'm sure I'm not alone. About a month ago I decided to sell my art. Sell some art to support my art habit. Before I knew it, I was knee deep in shop descriptions and shipping profiles, setting up paypal acounts. Who knew that you had to pay duty on art? Sometimes a good idea gives you so much more than you asked for. Then on top of it all, I was hoping not to sell anything.
At certain times one has to stop and re-evaluate. Now I have to make sure my stock is up to snuff (300 dpi). I don't want to enlarge something, only to realize that, that bird is only 72 dpi. and pixelated.
And a bonus. I found out that I can make much larger prints from my work than I preiously thought. I guess it never hurts to ask.